Just like Art when looking at it, there can be a lot of depth and different perspectives when listening to music. We can get various perspectives when looking at Art. But when you look at art, can you hear it? There is magic and art in music. Imagine hearing a really catchy song in the distance. You can't see where it's coming from, but you can hear it, and I bet there are times you will pick up an air guitar or air instrument and play it. If you see a certain instrument, would you know what it sounds like? Could you hear or imagine what the acoustics would sound like in the scenery? If you see a song chart with music notes, would you know what it sounds like? The test is to see if maybe you can see it, you can hear it too, but in your own perspective. I would also like you to also see how long music has been around, maybe gain a new appreciation for music, and maybe inspire new music to be written. I've provided the setting. Now use your eyes and most importantly your ears.
Arsen Levonee plays the piano for Vladimir Horowitz, Arsen Levonee, 2015, From the collection of: Museum of Fine Arts in Peredelkino
Arsen Levonee plays the piano for Vladimir Horowitz is telling a story and each little panel of Arsen shows movement and is supposed to be conducting and guiding us through a soundtrack of classical music. There is this cool calm tone to it with the blue colors and it captures a perfect movement and imagery taking you through this concert. A conductor always starts the show and has this power of music that is an art form in itself. So I felt it was appropriate that this piece start off this gallery.
Civil War Drum, Wayne White, 1939-1940, From the collection of: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Civil War Drum depicts a snare drum that was used during the Civil War. Soldiers would play as they march into War showing off how tight of a unit they were, and music helped inspire them before War.
The Wounded Drummer Boy, Eastman Johnson, 1862/1872, From the collection of: The Frick Pittsburgh
The Wounded Drummer Boy depicts an injured drummer boy who is being lifted and carried by a soldier in battle who fights to keep drumming through the battle. Eastman Johnson traveled with the Union Army during the Civil War and painted witnessed incidents from the War. This shows how important music and instruments can be, even in battle.
Improvisation, Childe Hassam, 1899, From the collection of: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Improvisation is an oil painting to canvas. A woman in a white dress is playing piano next to an open window on her left side and a table of vases and flowers on her right side. Improvisation in music is meant for carefree, creative, and free playing. I thought maybe this is how the artist felt while painting this piece.
The Sense of Hearing, Philippe Mercier, 1689 or 1691–1760, Franco-German, active in Britain (from 1716), 1744 to 1747, From the collection of: Yale Center for British Art
The Sense of Hearing shows four women each playing four different instruments. A piano, a flute, a violin, and a cello. Three women are trying to read sheet music while playing their instruments. It looks to be a royal family. The house has nice interior and a big painting of a blue sky. The artwork has a triangular composition.
Musician, Yeh Chi Wei, 1975, From the collection of: National Heritage Board, Singapore
Musician is an oil painting. Yeh Chi Wei was an artist who would travel around to several different Asian countries to get different perspectives on different cultures. This painting depicts a downtown setting with someone sitting outside listening to a musician playing an Erhu, which is a Chinese Violin. He uses a muted color palette which gives it a calming look. The musician looks to be trying to cheer up or relax the listener.
The Last Rose of Summer, William Michael Harnett (American, b.1848, d.1892), 1886, From the collection of: Cincinnati Art Museum
The Last Rose of Summer is a still life that shows a flute, some books, and a melted down candle are all kind of falling over in weird positions on top of some sheet music that are sitting on a wooden table and a sheet draping over it. The sheet music is of the song The Last Rose of Summer which was written as a poem in 1805. The poem later inspired music to be written for it in 1813.
The Old Violin, Jefferson David Chalfant, 1888/1888, From the collection of: Delaware Art Museum
The Old Violin depicts a violin and a bow sitting on top of sheet music hanging on a white wall next to eye glasses. Jefferson David Chalfant wanted the look as if the violin was aging, loosing it's color, as the paint of the white walls were old, cracking and chipping away. If you look closely at the sheet music, you can see the words andante moderato which is an Italian music phrase that acts as a signal to change to a slow tempo. So Jefferson David Chalfant probably wanted the look that this aged slowly overtime.
Benny Goodman, René Robert Bouché, 1960, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Benny Goodman was painted by René Robert Bouché in 1960. Benny Goodman is playing his clarinet, reading sheet music, in a fancy suit. He was a musician who brought an influential sound of swing and jazz. There are purple, blue, and yellow colors that are surrounding Goodman. It appears he is performing a piece at a concert. There are nice smooth brush strokes. The colors and style matches the tone and imagery of jazz and swing music.
Use Your Illusion, Seo, Sang Ik, 2007, From the collection of: Korean Art Museum Association
Use Your Illusion could depict either a young guitarist in his room, or an older guy at a work office imagining themselves as the rockstar Slash while playing a Gibson Les Paul guitar. This painting also shows evolution of the guitar, music, and the musician.
Credits: All media
This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.
